Madison times., 1887-09-03
AN ERA OF COMBUSTION,
The Combustion OF Coal and Its In
huences Upon the Earth's Atmos-
Dhere

The Combustion of Coal and Its In
huences Upon the Earth's Atmos
phere.
The following paper was read before the re
cent mining engineers convention at Dresden
A hundred ears ago people were still il
DOUBT whether atmospheric air is a mechani
cal mixture or a chemical combination of il
chief eleinents-Oxygen and nitrogen. TIL
Tact that the two gases could be SO easiI
separated was in favor Of its being a CON
pound, while the extraordinary constancy O
It's proportional composition seemed to in
I dicate a chemical combination The interest
taken in this problem ceased rapi lly as soor
as it was proven with certainty that oxvrer
and nitrogen Of the atmosphere exist beside
each other in a free state, and that the ex
traordinary and nevGr-subsiling motion OF
the aerie ocean, which is produced by the in.
/ huencc of suDbpGms, causes a constant ant
intimate mixture of its elements.
Later Investigations proved that solar ra,li-
ance, besides this merely mechanical influence,
exercises also chemical. or rather A chemicC
physiological, influence To rreserrc the con.
stancy of its mixture. Il was further
recognized at an early date that atmospheric
?
bonic acid. But its amount seemed to be too
insignificant a share to be worth any atten.
tion: yet how enormous is the absolute magni.
tude which this small proportion Of carbonic
acid In the air costitutes, considering the
great expanse of the atmosphere This was
not fully understood until mans horizon cx-
tended; until his pcrceptivc faculty grew and
his intellectual eye learned to comprise
worlds; until he had succeeded In Getermin-
Ing the weight Of this our earth and It's
atmosphere. Then the imposing transm!gra-
tion OF carbon taking place in the atmosphere
was recognized. 1t was stated that all car
bonic acil which enters into the air by COM
bustion, respiration, decay, and otherwise, is
converted under the influence of sunlight
through the vegetable king lOm into organized
carbon combinations--viz., into plants-and
the liberated oxygen returns into the atmos-
phere. As this change takes place on large
scale, it is the chief condition of a constant
composition of the atmospheric air Thus
the carbonic acid is prepared as food for the
vegetable kingdom. and the aeric ocean
serves as storehOIse, the stock Of which by
this unceasng exchange is kept at a constant
level. Since our observations were recorded
which certainly is no longer han a few hum
Cred years, the amount Of .grbonic acid in
atmospheric air remained almost unchanged
But geology tells us that there has been a
period IN which the atmosphere was more sat
uTated. In the early era the temperature of
our planet, being like that of nothouse pro-
duced gigantic fora. which later on IN Its
decline termed the large coal deposits on
eartn. lhe same carbonic acid, which, in inn
memorial times, roIred and StOrIned through
the high calamities of the paleozo!c era, sunk
as petrltled vegetable organism into long
anu death-like sleep awaiting a new resurrec-
tien in our DAYS. 1t is the miner who awakeps
II TO new lie, which means a new chemical
ACTIVITY, and civilized mankind are busily en-
gagged To restore IL to the great circulation of
nature. Thus the man Of our century heats
with the glow which was blazing down upon
earth long before men were living on its sur
face, and it is this heat to which the present
times owes the gigantic development by which
it is characterized.
Compare conditions of to-day with those firrr
years ago in countries where IarLe industries
exist and you will be astDnished at the change
III such short space of time. It is almost a
superabundance of force in which human kind
induiges, since VIC have succeeded in unlock
Ing lEe coal treasures underground and made
them subservent to our wants Man. indeed.
fully understood how to put the talent in mis-
trust Uu usury. On the one hand ne is not
Tree from the reprOach Of prOfusiOn, vet on the
other he must be credited Tor having lifted
himself, with the help of Tie black bounty, to
an intellectual height which never before was
attained, not sTen IN classical antiquity.
Our era is iE sLc fall sense of the word an
era OF combustion. Everywhere in places of
industrial activity We see glowing hearths fed
with FOSSIL carbon, we meet with statioUarv
with movable. and with floating chimneys
which Increasingly send forth into the aeric
ocean the gaseous products of combustion
w carbOnic acid.
The quantaIa OF carboIic acid which human
kind at present produces By combustion, for
either procreat!ou of heat or energy, or light
Tor electric ty, is extraordinary or greatly en-
lanced in comparison to former times This
IS done TO sucn an extent that we NAV ask
whether reiItrOduction of carbon, which
has been latent for many geological periods
into the circulation of the terrestr al inter
change OF matter, b. the combustion Of coal
)n SO large scale, may not possibly cause a
,hange of our atmosphere so as to disturb its
chemical equilibrium. We NAV decidedly
answer this question 10 the negative.
The amount of carbon which is wrested
rom the interior OF the earth by thousands OF
iiligent hands, and by other thousands used
or combustion, Is 50 exceedingly small as to
lwindle away IL compared to the gigantic
took contained Ia our terrestrial atmosphere.
The d difference is SO insignificant-not over
; lOOths of per cent.-that it could not be
determined by the most minute methods of
Investigation.
From these and similar considcrat ous We
earn modcsty when VIC compare human work
o that of nature. Mans hand is too weak to
Interfere noticeably with the imposing me-
hanism Of the cosmic gear. We orG on a
mail scale, and too slowly to disturb the
equilibrium of the proportions rnling on earth
This, our smalness, must not effect or oppress
Is. In spite OF it our time is great-the great F.
st In which humankind has lived. We NAV
indulge in comparisons like those we made
'ut an estimation of our works must he done
according to human measure, for, after all, /
re are siInDlv ucn